Turkish oppn picks fiery MP as Erdogan challenger

ankara — Turkey’s main opposition party Friday named a senior lawmaker known for his fiery and impassioned rhetoric as its candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next month’s election, paving the way for a potentially bruising campaign.

The candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the June 24 poll will be Muharrem Ince, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who had already made clear he would not be standing, announced.

“On June 24, I will, God willing, be president by the wish of the people,” Ince added after being called to the stage at an Ankara rally.

“For 80 million people (Turkey’s population)... I will be everyone’s president. I will be an unbiased president,” he added.

The candidacy of Ince, a former physics teacher and MP since 2002, was approved at a meeting of CHP MPs where all 110 of its lawmakers voted for him to stand.

Ince, who turned 54 Friday, faces an uphill struggle to convince voters, as he is running against Turkey’s most experienced and rhetorically-gifted campaigner in the shape of Erdogan.

Yet Ince’s greatest political assets are his rhetorical skills and impassioned speeches which have made him a favourite with the CHP faithful in recent years.

“Muharrem Ince is the best candidate that CHP could select in terms of rallying the party base,” Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, said. “He will be able to ensure a large turnout of the CHP electorate on election day.”

Ince’s tough talking has drawn a sharp contrast with the more bookish manners of Kilicdaroglu, who has led the CHP since 2010 but without ever seriously troubling Erdogan. Ince twice challenged Kilicdaroglu for the leadership of the CHP but failed to oust the incumbent head.

He has generally been more ready than Kilicdaroglu to adopt a gloves-off approach towards Erdogan, raising the prospect of a fierce political campaign. —